A Study of the Inquisition
by Rhymefire
Summary: It's another modern boy in Thedas story. Except that the moderner is from a world that has partly devoted itself to the study of other dimensions. Iden is staying to study the world of Thedas. What else is a studious researcher to do when he's thrown into a war? A holy thing? A group of opinionated misfits? Whatever it is, it'll make one hell of a case study.


Ch. 1

"This is interesting, isn't it?" Iden said. The cat-sized silver dragon curled around his foot hissed at him. Iden nudged at his familiar with his free foot. "Oh, come on. It's not every day you find yourself in another dimension. Let's at least look around a bit before we head home. We have to at least find out why we got pulled here."

Iden scooped up his familiar. The dragon's body quivered and it blew smoke from its nostrils. He idly scratched behind its ears as he looked around. They stood in a ruined castle. Red crystal clung to the stone and he brushed a fingertip against it. His familiar snarled nervously, but Iden slipped a shard of the crystal into his pocket for further study.

He turned and saw a group of people standing behind him. They stared at him in horrified confusion. Iden smiled and waved. "Hi there. Do you live here? I hope I'm not intruding. I wouldn't want to-"

An elven woman nearly tackled him. "Are you all right? Where did you _come_ from?" Her eyes fell to his arms, and her whole body actually jumped. " _Is that a dragon?_ You're coming with me right now."

She swiveled around and marched off. Iden and his familiar exchanged a confused look. He shrugged and followed her. Why not? He stared openly at the others with her. There was a human, a dwarf and an elf. His home, regretfully, had only humans living there but he had read about most of the other races he could expect to find on other worlds. It was only natural that he should know such things. The study of other dimensions was his life's work after all. Still, it was exciting that he'd been able to identify his new companions in a matter of seconds. And this was his first time in another dimension as well! Utia would be so proud.

The group charged into a throne room and Iden did his best to stand quietly in the corner while his new companions engaged in a heated argument with a robed man, and then an even more heated battle. Iden and his dragon watched it all, safely tucked out of the way. He was a researcher, a scholar, not someone who knew how to fight. Besides, the elven woman's company were obviously experts at that.

Iden was left feeling very awkward at what appeared to be a sort of last stand while the human mage fiddled with an amulet. His dragon snorted in disdain, and Iden couldn't help but agree. The mage was nothing but clumsy in his attempts to open up a portal. Iden decided that it was in the mage's best interests if he stayed silent. After all, mistakes were how people learned. A final gesture and the portal snapped open.

The elven woman lurched towards him, grabbed him by the arm and nearly flung him into it. Iden crashed onto the floor and sat there trying to collect his scattered senses. He stroked his irate dragon to calm it. His familiar only tensed further and dug its claws into his shirt. Iden watched as the group confronted the mage they'd just fought. He sent his dragon a confused look, but the creature only puffed out more smoke.

Iden took advantage of their distraction to sneak out of the building. He put his dragon down and ignored its hiss. "You can walk on your own," he whispered. They were in the middle of a village. Iden turned in a circle, identifying the objects around him. He sighed when he realized that this dimension's technology was less advanced than his. There would be no fridges or showers here. No heaters or electricity. "It'll be an adventure," he told his familiar, although in truth he was not sure who he was trying to convince. The dragon sniffed derisively.

The memory of the elf's face when she'd seen the tiny beast made Iden wince. Maybe he should stay away from the village. She had recognized his familiar for what it was, but maybe the dragons they had here were different than his sweet, little companion. Or maybe they were exceptionally rare.

He wasn't really supposed to be in another dimension right now. He should have been at home. How had he gotten here? Obviously, time had been damaged somehow. Perhaps pulling him here had been time's attempt to right itself? A gut reaction to sudden damage? It was possible for things to become misplaced if time was damaged. It didn't always happen, but it was possible.

If that was what had happened, he had an obligation to report it and watch closely for any more damage. He winced. Utia would be pissed. Great. Clearly, that had to be dealt with.

Iden headed into the safety of the woods, dragon at his heels. He would need solitude and silence for this. When he judged them far enough, he knelt and pulled the dragon into his lap. "I request permission to speak with the dragon god of knowledge, Utia," he whispered into its ear.

The slight creature's ears flicked up and it scuttled onto the ground. The creature set to work, drawing runes into the ground. Iden turned away. He may have been one of Utia's priests, but the dragon had been given to him by the god. Every god gave its priests a familiar to aid them in their tasks. It was not right for him to look upon the runes that his dragon carved into the soil. No, it was task to seek out knowledge. To learn about the dimensions nestled inside the universe and deliver the information to Utia. The god would smile and the knowledge would be shared with others, and later stored in the archives so it would never be lost. There was nothing Iden would rather do with his life.

A voice snapped him out of his thoughts. "Let's see, where should I go to get away from the Dalish elf? I know, the forest. You're not very smart, are you?" The slender, elven woman leaned against a tree, arms crossed.

Iden flushed. "Sorry…."

She laughed. "You're funny. Seriously though, are you okay? At least I was expecting some magical shit to go down, but you just got dragged into another dimension."

He grinned. Finally, someone who understood! Obviously, these people knew about other dimensions. He had been worried that he'd have to explain the whole concept to some beleaguered locals. "Oh, don't worry about me. I'm just getting my familiar to contact the god I serve and he'll get me home. Learning about other dimensions is nice and all, but I've never done fieldwork before. I'll make sure someone gets sent over to make sure that tear is sealed properly."

She blinked owlishly. "Can we try that again? I'm Lavellan and you are…."

"Iden. I sort of fell through the crack in time and space and ended up here. I'm one of Utia's priests. I research things."

"And Utia is?"

"The dragon god of knowledge. Back home, I mean. You probably don't know about him over here."

The dwarf sighed. "Nothing normal happens to us."

"This is pretty normal for me," Iden said.

"Neither of you are helping," Lavellen said. "Look, why don't you come join the Inquisition? We could always use more researchers."

Then magic crackled around them, and Iden realized that he'd forgotten all about what his dragon had been doing. Shit. Utia sprang into being and snatched him up. "Don't go skipping into other dimensions," the god snapped. "I thought you'd died. Why do you mortals have to be so fragile?" He set Iden down. "Now give me a report."

Iden dutifully repeated everything that'd just happened. Utia nodded seriously, eyes glowing like embers. They always stood out against his ivory skin, but their light belied the god's excitement. Iden winced internally. When Utia was excited, it either meant that he was going to run a crazy experiment or make someone else run a crazy experiment.

Utia's eyes snapped onto the elven man standing just behind Lavellan and he grinned. "Wonderful. Have fun with the Inquisition, Iden. I see that you're in good hands." Utia winked at the elf, and Iden could have sworn that he heard the elf _growl._ "I'll expect daily reports, you know. And we'll send your siblings over to help you get everything sealed nice and tightly. Enjoy yourself." And with that Utia vanished.

Iden nearly fell to his knees. They didn't even know what the Inquisition was and he'd just been ordered to go with them. His god had just ordered him to follow a group of strangers back to who-knows-where. He closed his eyes and whimpered.

Lavellan stared at him, mouth open. "Well, shit."


End file.
